Snap, Crackle, Fuck You.

At some point I think I need to step back and examine my collection of games I'm owning/playing; goddamn they are violent. Even the games that suck, or are not initially violent, somehow end up being amazing acts of brutality. A game I haven't been able to put down lately does not fall into either of those categories because they game is both good and violence is kind of the point. This game is Blitz: The League2, which is the sequel to the original Blitz: The League game

The Blitz series is about a fictional football league that bears resemblance to the NFL in the most of the ways that you would expect; setting up your offense and defense, training your players, etc. After playing though, you quickly see what sets this series apart from the other titles in this particular sport, the 'illegal' and aggressive parts of the game.

As it stands, I'm not a huge fan of sports games but this one caught my attention for the multiple things to do in the game and the different approaches to playing the matches themselves. There are your various training exercises to improve your players, of course, and the ability to improve your equipment, but then there is the added twist of having the ability to juice your players right before a game for an advantage. Pump a ton of steroids into your Linebacker and turn him into a killing machine or make it impossible for your Quarterback to feel pain, for example. It adds to the second, much more intense part of the game I found interesting: Breaking the other team, metaphorically and literally.

In this game, during a match, you can land dirty hits on opposing players which causes their stamina to drop. After several dirty hits, it is possible to land such a vicious blow that you cause an injury of any one of a various degrees of seriousness. The injuries range from bruised ribs and dislocated fingers, to a concussion, torn ACL or even a snapped spine. But wait! The fun refuses to stop there: the injuries go from just sounding terrible, to a small in-game cut-scene of the injury occurring in 'real-time'. You hit the guy with a dirty hit, hear the noise of impact. It cuts to the actual injury, you hear it happen. Laugh at the player and show your feelings.

Snap, Crackle, Fuck You.

All in all the game is tons of fun, either way you play it. You can play honest and skillfully, landing dirty hits when needed but focusing on out-playing the other team, or you can play dirty and mean, landing nothing but cheap shots and essentially beat the other team to death in order to win. It's all up to you, but we both know where the players go when they get frustrated. The storyline is a tad weak, with its basic run of the mill underdog team to take over the league championship story, but the fun twists and team's history is what makes the campaign mode a joy to play.

Blitz: The League2
fun: :) :) :) :)
gameplay: :) :) :) :)
story: :) :) :)

Overall: :) :) :) :) :
[Four and a half]

Thing 1
-Groove Sucka Groove